Sawamura sighed for the umpteenth time before tossing the worn baseball up in the air and catching it easily with his left hand. A low growl erupted a few meters from the base of Sawamura's bed as he heard the comforting drone of the game's music stop abruptly.

"I swear to God Sawamura, if you don't shut up right now, I'll kill you," Kuramochi hissed through gritted teeth. Sawamura had spent the past three hours laying on his bed playing with the baseball Miyuki had given him for his birthday and just sighing. Don't get him wrong, Kuramochi understood how he felt. He knew first hand just how painful it was to have the one person you thought who would never leave you just up and go. Believe him, he knew. But for crying out loud, it had been 3 weeks and Sawamura has shown no sign of moving on. It didn't even seem as if he was really even trying. In fact Kuramochi wasn't even sure if Sawamura wanted to move on. It sure as hell didn't seem like it since he was still using the baseball Miyuki had gave him.

"Kuramochi-senpai, how did you get over your break up with Onii-san?" Sawamura blurted out suddenly. Kuramochi's eyes narrowed dangerously. Although it had been a few months since Ryo-san had texted Kuramochi to tell him that they should end things and that 'this move was the best for them', he still found it incredibly difficult to talk about the pink-haired boy.

At first, Kuramochi had been so confused. Ryo-san and him were great… weren't they? They had just celebrated their one year anniversary just a few weeks ago and if Kuramochi could say so himself, it had turned out pretty fantastic! They had started off with going to their favourite pro team's baseball game (which the team won obviously) then dinner at Ryo-san's favourite restaurant and then they had closed the date with some mind-blowing sex. It just didn't make sense for the incredibly observant shortstop. Had there been a problem which he hadn't notice? And if so, why didn't Ryo-san just talk to him? They had a fairly open relationship and they had always felt comfortable talking about their problems with each other. Ryo-san's request hadn't made any sense to Kuramochi and so Kuramochi hopped on the first train that went to East Tokyo to find out what the hell was going on with his boyfriend.

"Kuramochi-senpai?" the sound of Sawamura's yell brought Kuramochi back into the present. Kuramochi shook his head slightly before returning his attention back to his loud-mouth kohai.

"Um, what was it that you wanted again?" Kuramochi asked, willing himself not to think about Ryo-san. It was still too raw, too painful.

"Kuramochi-senpai! You weren't even listening! I was asking you how you got over Onii-san!" Sawamura huffed. That was it. That little piece of shit.

"Oi! Come here Bakamura, I'm your senpai. Learn to show me some respect," Kuramochi yelled before diving towards him and placing him in one of his infamous headlocks. Kuramochi expertly man-handled the smaller boy as he yelled and screamed and thrashed about, relentlessly begging to be freed and promising that he would show Kuramochi the respect he deserved. After about 10 minutes of struggling, Kuramochi was finally satisfied and let go off Sawamura who collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath.

"That was so mean Kuramochi-senpai."

Kuramochi however, was barely listening. He had turned back to face the small television where the colourful fantasy landscape of his game flickered enticingly. He knew that if he replied Sawamura he would be forced to talk about Ryo-san and despite him knowing that Sawamura really needed some advice right now, he just couldn't bring himself to talk about an injury which was still so fresh. He heard Sawamura huff and mutter something that sounded suspiciously like "stupid useless senpai". Kuramochi picked up his controller as Sawamura threw a dirty glare to the back of his head. It wasn't long before the cheerful game music once again permeated the entire room and Sawamura was back in bed and back to sighing his life away.

Sawamura glanced out the window to be greeted by the dark sullen sky. Clouds rolled overhead as the occasional flash of lighting illuminated the muddy baseball field in the distance. Sawamura groaned softly before turning over and burrowing back into his warm cocoon. The lightning had completely dashed Sawamura's hopes of squeezing in some early morning running.

"Don't you dare."

Sawamura heard the familiar sleepy mumble of his roommate float down from the bunk above. He could sense the threat laced in between the three words. Even when sleepy, Kuramochi sounded scary. Onii-san had definitely rubbed off on him. Sawamura shivered at the thought of rooming with someone like Onii-san. He was secretly kind of glad that Kuramochi and Onii-san had broken up before Kuramochi could adopt even more of Onii-san's scary antics.

Oh well, since running was now out of the question, Sawamura decided that he should probably get some sleep. The next three weeks were going to be hell as the entire team were sure to be busy prepping their bodies for the infamously torturous winter training camp. Kantouku had hinted that it was going to be the worse one yet as they had to get themselves ready for battle at the Spring Koushien.

But no matter how Sawamura tossed and turned he couldn't get back to sleep. He was never one to find sleep easily and once awake, he could never get himself to return back to dreamland. Finally, after about 30 minutes of trying, Sawamura gave up. He groped around his bedside table for his phone and flicked it open.

5:48am

1 new unread message

Stifling a small yawn, Sawamura unlocked his phone and opened the message. It was from his childhood friend, Wakana-chan. Sawamura gave the upper bunk a quick glance before reading the message. He knew that Kuramochi would put him in one of his headlocks if he found out that Sawamura was still texting Wakana-chan. Kuramochi had a strange bond with Wakana that Sawamura just couldn't figure out. It seemed that the green-haired shortstop was fond of Wakana and strangely enough, Wakana had seemed to like Kuramochi back. At first Sawamura had been confused as he had though Kuramochi was interested in Wakana romantically. Turns out, Kuramochi just wanted to make him uncomfortable. However despite Kuramochi's intentions, Wakana and himself had turned out to be good friends and Kuramochi had become fiercely protective of his new found friend. Kuramochi had even tackled Sawamura once and had demanded he stopped texting Wakana as in his words "it leads her on! She thinks she has a chance with you!". Sawamura had of course tried telling Kuramochi that Wakana and him were just friends and that neither of them thought of the other as any more. But Kuramochi was adamant that Wakana liked Sawamura and that Sawamura was just too dense to realise it. Sawamura had yelled and Kuramochi, in an effort to shut him up, had placed him in a headlock. Sawamura grimaced slightly at the memory. He loved Kuramochi-senpai and all but Kuramochi's headlocks really hurt.

Ei-chan it's been almost a month since we've talked! What are you doing over there in Tokyo? Are you really so busy that you can't even take the time to mail me back? Or have you forgotten about all of us already? We all miss you and we have all been training hard to win our games in the summer. We will be sure to come watch you pitch at the Spring Koushien. Good luck Ei-chan and please, don't hurt yourself. Kuramochi-kun has told me about your tendency to over-train. Please take care of yourself Ei-chan.

Love, Wakana.

A small smile flitted through Sawamura's face. He really missed home and his friends and family back in Nagano. He knew that coming to Tokyo to chase after his baseball dreams had been rough for all of them and he chided himself for not replying their messages as often. He quickly typed a response to Wakana before reading it over and sending it off. Somehow, he had the feeling that Kuramochi would find out if he had used the wrong kanjis and that would just mean more trouble (and more wrestling moves) for him.

It was now 6:14. Breakfast would already be ready. Sawamura heard the soft snores of his room mate from above and was once again puzzled by how city people could sleep for so long. Sawamura could barely sleep past 5:45 and here Kuramochi was, still snoring away at 6:15. Trying his best to be quiet and not wake up the beast, Sawamura slipped out of bed and pulled on his baseball uniform. He heard Kuramochi grunt and turn in his sleep but other than that Sawamura caught no sign of him waking up. He grabbed his phone and bag before gently shutting the door.

Once outside he gave out a loud sigh of relief. Every morning Sawamura tried desperately to avoid the horror show that was Kuramochi if Sawamura had accidentally woken him up. Kuramochi was not a morning and Sawamura had found out the hard way during his first week as his roommate. Kuramochi had nearly choked him to death.

The air was bitterly cold and nipped at Sawamura's exposed face as he hurried quickly in the direction of the canteen. Sawamura had never been more grateful for the burst of warm air that greeted him as he stepped in. The two canteen ladies on duty gave Sawamura a warm smile and a small wave before returning to prepping for the herd of hungry teenagers that were to arrive soon. Sawamura smiled back and thanked them for their hard work as he grabbed a tray of food and sat down at a nearby table.

It wasn't long before Furuya and Haruichi arrived. Furuya had his hand lightly intertwined with Haruichi's but they sprang apart the moment they saw Sawamura. Sawamura snickered lightly and an uncharacteristic smirk found itself onto his face. He knew that his two best friends had recently started dating. In fact, almost everyone in the first string knew. Yet it seemed that the pair wanted their relationship to remain a secret and as a result, Sawamura hadn't wanted to ask too much. He respected their decision and was willing to wait until they were comfortable telling him. Furuya and Haruichi shuffled over and each got their tray of food before settling down on the bench opposite Sawamura. Furuya, who rarely ever showed any emotion, had a slight flush over his cheeks whilst Haruichi's face matched the shade of his hair. Sawamura couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

"Furuya your face!" he managed to get out in between laughs. Furuya's flush deepened and a scowl adorned his usual poker-face. Haruichi glared menacingly at Sawamura and Sawamura was reminded once again that Haruichi was Onii-san's younger brother.

"I'm sure Eijun-kun doesn't mean to make fun of you Furuya-kun," Haruichi commented lightly, picking up his chopsticks whilst doing so. Though his tone remained casual, there was a hint of warning behind the usually easy-going male's speech. Sawamura shuddered involuntarily which made Haruichi smile slightly. Haruichi is turning out more and more like Onii-san, Sawamura thought.

Furuya turned to look at Haruichi before darting down to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks," he mumbled softly into Haruichi's ear. Haruichi's flushed face turned even a darker shade of red as he quickly tried to hide behind his hair. Haruichi had just recently cut his hair and as a result found it quite a struggle to do so. Sawamura on the other hand squealed in response. He couldn't hardly believe how cute they were being. This was exactly like his shoūjo mangas!

Haruichi clasped both hands together and mumbled a soft "Itadakimasu!" before starting on his bowl of rice. He was mid-chew before he realised that Sawamura was staring at him. He had that huge grin and idiotic starry-eyed look that he had when reading shoūjo mangas. A small wave of irritation and anxiety welled up inside him. Haruichi absolutely hated being stared at. That was one of the reasons he had kept his bangs for so long. Haruichi gave a small sigh in an effort to compose himself and pretended not to notice Sawamura's eagle-like gaze. He knew that Sawamura had just gone through a hard time with Miyuki-senpai and though he didn't know all the details (he wasn't as evil as his brother), he knew enough to know that Sawamura was hurting. However… from Haruichi's own observation, it didn't really seem like Sawamura was affected much by it. Haruichi snuck a glance at his airhead best friend. His grin had been replaced by a scowl and he was now yelling animatedly at Furuya. Probably something about taking the ace number. A look of concern replaced Haruichi's usually calm composure.

"What's wrong Haruichi?" Sawamura's loud voice punctured through Haruichi's thoughts. The pink-haired boy blinked before forcing a smile onto his face. Well, I guess it's now or never.

"Eijun-kun… are you okay?" Haruichi asked tentatively. He was simply met with a look of confusion from the boy.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Sawamura replied after a beat.

Haruichi's brows furrowed deeper in concern. He was really confused. Didn't Miyuki-senpai and Sawamura break up? Haruichi knew how much Miyuki meant to Sawamura and he had expected Sawamura to be much much more distraught by the break up. Granted it had been 3 weeks and Sawamura does tend to get over things quite quickly. But it was Miyuki Kazuya they were talking about. The boy that Sawamura was absolutely head over heels in love with! Haruichi cleared his throat before looking towards his boyfriend for support. Not to his surprise Furuya had zoned out and was on the brink of falling asleep. His head lolled slightly to the right and Haruichi couldn't help the small smile that flirted with the corner of his lips. He was so glad that Furuya returned his feelings. But this wasn't the time to be thinking about Furuya! He gave a slight shake of his head and returned his gaze back to Eijun.

"I… I heard about the break up with Miyuki-senpai," he started off slowly, softly. By then the members of the baseball team had started filtering in and Haruichi had enough common sense to know that this was a sensitive issue which required as much care as possible when discussing. However, he was shocked by Sawamura's loud laughter which followed. Sawamura beamed at him which made Haruichi even more confused. Maybe Haruichi had lost his touch with reading people…

"Oh no Haruichi! You must have misunderstood. We did break up but it's nothing serious. Ka- Miyuki-senpai is just overreacting. I'm sure we'll be fine after we talk about it. I mean, we've both been so busy recently and he's still adjusting to this whole 'captain' thing so we haven't really gotten the chance to talk. But once we do, we'll sort it out and it'll be just fine!" Sawamura replied cheerfully. Haruichi's eyes widened in surprise. Was this what Eijun really thought..? Even Furuya, who had been awaken by Sawamura's booming voice, seemed skeptical.

"Oi, oi, over here Kanemaru! Over here!" Sawamura shouted, waving his arms frantically about. The blonde haired teenager looked to have given a loud groan before shuffling towards their table.

"Eijun-kun look, are you sure that-" Haruichi started hurriedly but Sawamura wasn't listening. His attention was completely on heralding Kanemaru over so that he could help him with the English vocabulary he had to learn before tomorrow's test. Haruichi sighed, threw his friend a worried glance and continued eating. He had a feeling that the idea which Sawamura had was not one shared by the team captain.